Pedal Powered Adventures Blog

We made it!!! It was a dirty, dusty day. 116 kilometers were hard-earned today and we hope we've used up all our bad luck!

Image: Hopefully getting ourselves on the bus in time was the hardest part of the race!! Naughty riders at the back of the bus ;)

​We had a bit of a slow start, getting caught in a queue for the first single track. We made up some ground but we were unlucky, first with JHH's ITB pain flaring up and then with punctures in ALL our tires!!

Images: Waiting in the long queue for the short river crossing (the water levels were too high for the floating bridge)

Image: JHH adjusting his bike after experiencing intense knee pain and expressing doubt about finishing (the only time I have ever heard him doubt himself on the bike...must have been serious!)​Then, I broke my chain using my superhuman strength standing up on a climb, which my very calm husband managed to repair on the spot, but with a few glitches it took longer than we would have liked.

Image: JHH fixing a broken chain while people half-heartedly offer to help and then let us know they have actually never fixed a chain before and ride off

But we stayed positive and persevered.

Around 10km from the end of a tough day in the saddle, I started to feel my heart racing so got it checked in the Medical tent...doesn't seem like anything serious, most likely just over-stimulated from the caffeine, gels, etc. we'll keep an eye on it and I will see how I feel tomorrow.​Congrats to all the Cycling Academy teammates: Natali Van Loggerenberg, Davy Muller, Jim Pait. Great job Kevin Hickey, and Val Renn.